Justice News

Retired Army Veteran Charged With Threatening To Shoot Others At The Washington D.C. Capitol Building

Greenbelt, Maryland – Michael Bogoslavski, age 33, of Cheverly, Maryland, was charged by complaint with transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure another person. The complaint was filed on February 3, 2015, and unsealed yesterday. A detention hearing was held late yesterday afternoon and Bogoslavski was ordered to be detained pending trial.

The complaint was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Chief Kim Dine of the U.S. Capitol Police; Chief H. Buddy Robshaw of the Cheverly Police Department; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks; and Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

“Local and federal law enforcement agencies responded to the threat quickly and effectively,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Their efforts in this case may have prevented a tragic outcome.”

“With the help of the Threats of Mass Violence state law passed last year, my office was able to work with Cheverly Police to detain Mr. Bogoslavski and obtain a warrant which led to the removal of firearms from his home,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks. “I want to thank all of our law enforcement partners for their quick actions that removed Mr. Bogoslavski from our community and may have prevented a tragedy.”

According to the affidavit supporting the complaint, on February 2, 2015, a federal employee who worked in the U.S. Capitol Building reported to U.S. Capitol Police that earlier in the day, the employee had received text messages from Bogoslavski stating that he was planning to come to the employee’s work place with guns and shoot the employee and others. While the employee was speaking with the Capitol Police, Bogoslavski called the employee’s cell phone and made additional threats to shoot others, and “to die suicide by cop.”

The affidavit alleges that the Capitol Police alerted law enforcement to locate Bogoslavski. The Cheverly Police Department responded to Bogoslavski’s residence where they took him into custody. Bogoslavski was taken to a hospital and released the next day, whereupon he was arrested and detained in federal custody.

A search warrant was executed on February 2 at Bogoslavski’s home. Two loaded handguns were seized, along with additional rounds of ammunition. Further investigation revealed that after serving in the U.S. Army for over nine years, including two tours in Iraq and a tour in Afghanistan, Bogoslavski was released from duty. He retired in March, 2013.

Bogoslavski faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

A complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the U.S. Capitol Police, Cheverly Police Department, FBI, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Gardner and Special Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas J. Patterson, of the U.S. Department of Justice, National Security Division, who are prosecuting the case.